This sounds like good business. Any links on getting started? I'm especially curious about the legal aspects like how you report mined-Bitcoin income when you do taxes.
I was thinking more along the lines of, based on mrb's figures, buying 11 FPGA boards and letting them pay my rent. That's substantial enough profit that if I didn't file properly, I'd be worried about a knock on the door from the IRS.
> Eg. each one of my Cairnsmore1 FPGA boards makes about $43/month, after the halving. ... I paid $640 for each one.
11 boards... do you have $6500 laying around? And you'll invest it to make a (possible, read: Your Milage WILL Vary) return of ~$450/mo? Shoot for the moon, I guess...
I don't think that the government could tax it, as it's not money :)
I'm not a lawyer or anything even close, but if your income is not money, but something else (e.g. potatoes), would that be taxed?
Bitcoins seem like capital items to me and I fully expect governments to treat them as such. If bitcoins become widely used enough people who haven't been careful will be facing investigation by the IRS or equivalent in their own country. It would not surprise me at all to hear of some large confiscations of computer equipment and bitcoin wallets by the IRS at some point in the future.
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This sounds like good business. Any links on getting started? I'm especially curious about the legal aspects like how you report mined-Bitcoin income when you do taxes.
Well, if you are mining as a hobby, you get to write off all of your expenses before having pay taxes on any profits.
Want a new top-of-the-line graphics card? Until it pays for itself, you don't owe any taxes. (In the us, from my understanding. IANAL, IANACPA)
I was thinking more along the lines of, based on mrb's figures, buying 11 FPGA boards and letting them pay my rent. That's substantial enough profit that if I didn't file properly, I'd be worried about a knock on the door from the IRS.
> Eg. each one of my Cairnsmore1 FPGA boards makes about $43/month, after the halving. ... I paid $640 for each one.
11 boards... do you have $6500 laying around? And you'll invest it to make a (possible, read: Your Milage WILL Vary) return of ~$450/mo? Shoot for the moon, I guess...
What's so wrong with a ~7% return per month ?
I don't think that the government could tax it, as it's not money :) I'm not a lawyer or anything even close, but if your income is not money, but something else (e.g. potatoes), would that be taxed?
Yes, absolutely. Many countries tax barter exchange. The IRS has a whole section on their site about it: http://www.irs.gov/Businesses/Small-Businesses-&-Self-Em...
Bitcoins seem like capital items to me and I fully expect governments to treat them as such. If bitcoins become widely used enough people who haven't been careful will be facing investigation by the IRS or equivalent in their own country. It would not surprise me at all to hear of some large confiscations of computer equipment and bitcoin wallets by the IRS at some point in the future.
people who mine bitcoins probably don't report that on their takes.